Salzgitter Loses EU Court Bid to Overturn Illegal-Aid Decision

Salzgitter AG (SZG), Germany’s second-
largest steelmaker, lost a European Union court challenge
seeking to overturn an EU decision forcing it to repay unlawful
German subsidies.

The EU General Court in Luxembourg today rejected
Salzgitter’s appeal “in its entirety.”

The aid was part of a tax break for companies near the
border with the former East Germany and Czechoslovakia. The EU
regulator on June 28, 2000, ordered Salzgitter, based in the
same-named German city, to pay back the subsidies, without
disclosing the amount.

A 2004 ruling in favor of Salzgitter was overturned on
appeal four years later, after the EU’s highest court ordered a
re-examination of the case. It said a lower court used the wrong
legal test when it decided the European Commission couldn’t
order a refund of the aid more than 10 years after it had been
granted.

While arguing that no aid was given, Salzgitter said in
2008 that it submitted “a single-digit million-euro amount” to
the EU. Salzgitter didn’t immediately respond to a call seeking
comment on today’s decision.